“Will you be 'uhum' okay here, my lady?” my manservant cum carriage-driver, Jaxon, asks while holding a laugh. Meanwhile, my other manservant, Yornell, brings down the last of my luggage from the top of the carriage.
“It’s okay, you can laugh, Jaxon,” I say as he releases tiny spurts of air from between his lips.
“Uhm, uhum, I don’t, uhum, think that’s appropriate, my lady, heh, hehe,” Jaxon says as he tries to control his natural reaction. Jaxon has been with our family since before I was born, if there is one person left in this world who knows my true gender, that’s him.
“Sobs, sobs. My lady, I wish you can bring me along. Who will clean your room? Who will make your tea? Who will do your makeups?” my maid, Ylny sobs into her handkerchief.
“Ylny, I’m sorry, school regulations state that-“
“Not that you actually need makeups. It really pisses me off that you can look so pretty… why can’t God give me your face?” Ylny says suddenly.
This again? She gave me grief about this just last night. “Umm, Ylny, do you have to say this again?”
“Why?!!! Give me your beauty!!!” Ylny lunges forward, kissing and sucking my smooth youthful cheeks.
“Well, I’ll miss you too, Ylny. I’ll be home during semester breaks, so take care of the house and great uncle Adolphus for me, okay?” I say to her while hugging her tight. Ylny was brought to our home to serve as my maid and playmate when she was only 8 years old. Being two years older, I always saw her as something like an older sister as we grew up together. In front of my mother, she was the perfect dutiful maid and servant. When my mother wasn’t around though, she was the big sister I never had.
“Are these your entire luggage, my lady?” the head of a trio of maids speaks to me.
“Yes, are you here to deliver it to my room?” I ask as Ylny bawls her eyes out on my brand new school uniform.
“Yes, these maids will ensure that your luggage arrives in your room. I will be showing you to your room once you’re ready to enter,” the head of the trio of maids speaks while her coworkers lift my entire luggage onto two trolleys.
The two maids bow at me and ask to be excused, to which I allow them to. Then they push the trolleys carrying my luggage and the few worldly possessions I have towards the Rose Dorm, where I will be staying for the next three years. Three god damned long years, where I will spend all my time seducing the crown prince of the kingdom. Mother had explained to me how I was supposed to satisfy him if he requested it, but for the love of my cute behind, I pray that it will never cross his mind.
Suddenly Ylny raises herself and places her lips to my ear as she says, “Please be careful to avoid letting others find out that you’re a trap, Bell. I’m sure you can guess how your mother will react if she finds out that you’re kicked from school.”
My body shivers as I involuntarily imagining that happening. “You don’t need to remind me.”
“I hope not. Don’t let ‘him’ bully you, okay?” Ylny says as she hugs me around my shoulders since she is still about a head taller than me.
By ‘him’, I think she means the prince. “Of course not. Do I look like someone easily bullied?”
“To be frank, yes. You’re so darn delicate it’s so easy to bully you, Bell. If I am in a different household, I would’ve been flogged already. Well, that’s in the past. Take care, Bell. Be strong.”
“You too, Ylny,” I say while hugging her around her waist, wondering when I will be taller than her.
After a few seconds, she retreats before going to stand to the left of Jaxon. Together, they bow at me while wishing me good health. I turn around, open my parasol and walk behind the school’s maid under the shade of my parasol as I leave behind the only family I have ever known. When I hear the sound of the gate being shut, I know that there is no turning back now. From now until my graduation, this school will be my world.
Suddenly the maid stops and turns to me with eyes downcast. “The headmistress told me to bring you to meet her right away, my lady. But do you prefer to have breakfast or freshen yourself up first, my lady?”
I wipe the sweat on my forehead as I realize that my skin feels clammy. “I’ve had breakfast. Can you take me to the closest washroom?”
“Of course, my lady. Please follow me,” the maid says as she takes a different route through a garden.
The garden is best described as a mismatch of many different types of tall trees and flowers with a walkway paved with marble. On the school’s side, the grassy ground is covered in flowers of all kinds. Lavenders, roses, spider-lilies, gardenias and jasmines dot the grounds and the balconies of the school. On the other side of the walkway, tall trees pruned to provide shade to the walkway stands proudly. Vines of sweet-smelling wisteria hangs and wraps around its branches, providing another source of the sweet smell to the garden. For some reason, I find myself being cleansed of my worries, of having to seduce the prince and marrying a boy.
God, just thinking that annoys me.
“Hey, are you a new student?” a sweet voice says making me open my eyes to a girl probably about my age. She’s carrying a watering can on her gloved right hand and a trowel on her gloved left hand. She smiles sweetly as she looks me in the eyes.
My first friend, yay! “Hi there, I’m-,”
“Annise, what are you doing being rude to Lady Alya, Countess of Maurice?” the maid scolds.
“Countess?” the girl’s face pales as she realizes who she is talking to, “I am so sorry, my lady. Please forgive my insolence.”
She runs away as quickly as she appears. Seriously, I’m not mad, I try to tell her that, but she’s like a ghost. One moment she’s there, in the blink of an eye, she’s gone.
“Who was that?” I ask the maid as we continue walking.
“A fellow student like you, my lady.”
“Do all the students here do that? Gardening, I mean.”
“Oh no. No, my lady, students don’t do that here. Annise is a scholarship student. She is also our groundskeeper along with two other maids. At most, you will only learn to prune potted plants in the home economics class, my lady.”
“Hum, I was wondering if gardening is a subject taught here. I’d like to learn how to care for a garden like this.”
Suddenly the maid bows at me. “I beg of you, please do not mention this to the headmistress, my lady.”
I am shocked a little to see her bowing so suddenly, but she probably has her own reasons. “Alright, fine. I’ll keep quiet. You’ll probably get into trouble if the headmistress hears of this, won’t you?”
“I thank you very much, my lady,” the maid says as she stands straight again and leads me to a washroom.
I wash my face as thoroughly as I can, then realizing that all my handkerchiefs are in my bags. I look around trying to find something to wipe my face with when the maid’s voice startles me.
“Please use this, my lady,” the maid says as she hands me a white towel with the school’s coat of arms.
“Thank you,” I say as I take the towel from her hands.
“Are you ready to meet the headmistress now, my lady?” the maid asks with eyes downcast.
“Yeah, sure,” I say to her as I hand her the towel. Might as well get this over with.
The maid places the towel into a basket at the bottom of the cupboard next to the sink. She turns gracefully and she says, “Please follow me, my lady,” as she takes the lead.
We walk up the stairs, across the halls until we arrive on the 3rd floor of the administration building. There, the maid walks up to the sole door along the corridor with the plaque bearing the name Arreana Fessack, Headmistress nailed on the door. She knocks it thrice, states who she is and who she’s bringing before opening the door.
It’s a very big office, much bigger than my father’s office at any rate. On the left wall, there’s a long bookcase where probably a hundred thick books are kept. Opposite it, there are cupboards and another smaller, but taller bookcase which keeps many big folders upon its many shelves. A large desk with a woman is in front of me, with a large sliding window behind her. The woman stands up when she sees me enter and gestures me forward as she tells the maid to stand in wait outside.
“Please have a seat,” the woman says as she takes a seat herself, “I am Headmistress Arreana Fessack of St. Carina’s School for Graceful and Elegant Ladies. I have been the headmistress here for 22 years and I know all kinds of mischief you girls can get into. So if you’re caught doing something bad, confess, because when I find out who did it, you WILL be punished.”
Wow, not even an hour and I’m already being lectured.
“Umm, well, I am-,” I say before she raises her hand to signal me to stop.
“I am not quite finished, my dear. Let’s just say that trying to hide a misdemeanor will subject you to an even worse punishment, as your mother is well aware.”
“Wait, you know my mother?”
“Of course, I do. A troublesome child she was. When she came here, I was still only a new teacher teaching morals and home economics. Got into one trouble after another, that one.”
“But mother graduated from the Free School of Se Alinop.”
“So she did continue her studies. We haven’t heard anything from her after she ran away from St. Carina. Too stuffy, she said, humph!”
“If you don’t mind me asking, headmistress, why did mother ran away?”
“Did you not hear what I just said? She said this school was too stuffy. Obviously, our school didn't cater to her rebellious and free-spirited majesty. Yet she dared to come to me a few weeks ago and told me to admit her daughter into St. Carina. How shameless! One would expect that she would be too ashamed to face me, but not her, just like she was when she studied here! Shameless!”
“Umm, well, mother can be pushy sometimes.”
The headmistress glares at me. “I hope to God that you will not become like her. But anyway, let’s move forward to what you’re here for,” she glares at me again as she takes up a heavy folder and flips a few pages, “Countess Alya Belluca Sentnaria, Countess of Maurice, yes? Recently named as heir to Adolphus Sentnaria, Count of Maurice, acquiring the title as Count Adolphus Sentnaria retires from his position. Although the inheritance ceremony has yet to be performed, the king himself wrote a letter of assurance that the title will pass on to you. Now as for academics, apart from Home Economics, Mathematics and Swimming, all your other subjects are terrible. Don’t worry, our wonderful teaching staff at St. Carina will ensure your grades rise by any means necessary.”
I don’t like the sound of ‘any means necessary’.
“As a countess, you have first choice of lodging, and your mother has chosen a Duchess Suite of the Rose Garden. Payment has already been made and annual fees have already been arranged. There are two other residents on the top floor suites of Rose Garden, but one is away due to an illness and another is antisocial, so you will have plenty of time and space to concentrate on your studies without interference from others. As a resident of a Duchess Suite, your meal arrangements are different from those who stay in the dorms. This booklet gives you the details, please read it in your room later,” the headmistress says as she pushes a booklet with the title “Special Meals and Privileges of Duchess Suite Residents’ at me.
I open the booklet just a peek.
“I SAID LATER!” the headmistress yells in a shrill voice making me drop the booklet onto the desk. The jolt from her sudden yell jolts my brain that makes me feel a little disoriented.
She glares at me as she says, “St. Carina is divided into 5 main sections: Academics, Administration, Students Center, Dorms and Field. Students Center is a section where you can find the Students Council Office, Savings Office, Procurement Office, Shops and Cafes and various clubs, which you may join as you wish. The Field section is basically split into 3 parts: the largest is the track field, tennis and volleyball courts, and the swimming pool, another is the church, which you can visit any time of day, except during classes and the last is the school ruins, which you must NEVER get close to. The old ruins have been walled off, but every year there are always girls who think that entering the ruins raise their standing among their fellow students. As for the rest, you can read it in this booklet,” she says as she pushes a booklet with the title “St. Carina’s School, Sections and School Regulations’ on its cover.
Apart from the booklet, there is also something that looks like a small leather wallet. The wallet is thin and its size is a little bigger than my palm, but significantly longer. Curiosity got me and I open the wallet-like thing, expecting to be scolded. I breathe a sigh of relief when she remains quiet. On one side of the wallet is my student card, with my face, my date of birth and the date I enter school, which is today. Right under my face are my name and title, both of which are written in big bold letters. I suppose the school doesn’t want people to offend a countess or something. On the other part of the wallet are sleeves which look as if they are meant to hold cards or notes with one vertical sleeve looking like it is designed to also hold ema bills.
The headmistress glares at me through squinted eyes. “Another thing that I will stress to you, and I need you to listen very closely because I am tired of saying this over and over again. DO NOT violate curfew. Curfew starts at 9 in the evening and ends at 5 in the morning. If the maids catch you loitering around after curfew, not even your mother will be able to save you.”
“Umm, okay,” I say with sweat flowing down my face.
I wonder who’s scarier, the headmistress or my mother.
“That will be all. This is your student handbook. Read it at your leisure. You join our school a season later than the others, I hope you can cope with the lessons. If you need extra help, I’m sure you can ask for extra tutoring from your seniors or the teachers. Do you have any questions for me for now?”
“Umm, no? Think not.”
“Well then, I guess our meeting here is over,” the headmistress says as she rings the bell on her desk, “Before I forget, there is a letter addressed to you. Kindly pick it up at the Mail Office. Marea, please get her acquainted with her homeroom teacher, Ms. Rosecca. After that, lead her to her room. You may go.”
The maid curtsies as she leads the way downstairs
“Miss Rosecca,” the maid calls once the door to the staff room is open. She repeats twice more.
“Maya, the maid’s calling for you!” one of the women sitting at a desk nearby calls.
Still no answer.
“Just go in, Marea. You know how she is,” the woman urges.
“Thank you, Miss Yuorish,” Marea the maid bows as she leads me into the staff office.
“Miss Rosecca,” Marea calls once she stands behind a red-headed woman.
“Miss Rosecca,” she calls again without receiving any kind of reply.
Is she calling the wrong person?
“Ey, Maya,” the woman sitting next to Miss Rosecca taps the partition separating their desks, “The maid is calling for you.”
“Huh? Really?” she turns around and stands up in front of us, “Oh sorry, I didn’t realize you’re here. You’re… you’re…”
“My name is Marea. I am one of the maids in charge of student admission. I am here bringing a student who will be in your homeroom, miss,” Marea bows to the woman.
“Oh, another student for my homeroom then? Fantastic!” Miss Rosecca shakes my hand as she introduces herself, or at least attempts to, “My name is… uhhh… my name is…” she turns to Marea, “Hey, what’s my name again?”
“You are Miss Maya Rosecca, miss,” Marea answers without changing her expression.
“Oh my, is that my name? Are you sure?”
“Yes, as far as I know, miss.”
“It doesn’t ring a bell at all. Well anyway, I teach… uhh… what do I teach again?”
“Geometry and Algebra, miss.”
“Really?” she looks at the writings on her desk and the books on the bookcase on her desk.
“I suppose I am,” she laughs, as the woman sitting next to her desk mumbles something incoherent.
“I’m dreadfully sorry. My brain is all muddled lately. It’s so hard to remember details. I was hit by a stagecoach when I-.”
“No, you did not! You sniffed too much chemical fumes the last time you went to the chemistry lab!” the woman sitting next to her argues.
“Oh my! Are you sure about that… umm… do I know you?”
“It’s Lacrina! Lacrina Escha! For the last time, I teach chemistry!”
“If you will excuse me, Miss Rosecca, Miss Escha, Lady Alya needs to go elsewhere for now. She will start classes tomorrow.”
“Oh ok, see you later…. uhh…”
“My name is Alya Belluca Sentnaria, Miss Rosecca,” I say, conveniently forgetting to include my title.
“Oh, the pie maker? I’m a big fan of your pies. I go there every weekend or is it every two weekends?”
Pie maker?
“She is the new Countess of Maurice, miss,” the maid helpfully adds.
“Ohhh, a countess, who also bakes pies!”
“…” I have nothing to say to this level of ridiculousness.
“This is great! I haven’t seen a princess and a countess under the same roof for some years now,” Miss Rosecca remarks, “What’s next? A baroness who builds boats? A duchess who sews dolls? A Vestal Virgin who makes iron tools?”
“The princess is already here?” I ask, a little curious. I decide to ignore everything else she says that have nothing to do with me.
“Yes, she started classes last week. Though you won’t be going to the same classes as her, she’s in 5th Grade. You’re in 4th Grade, I heard,” she says, though how she can remember what grade I am is quite a mystery. It seems like not all of her memory’s gone.
“If you will excuse us, Miss Rosecca, the countess needs to start unpacking her luggage,” Marea bows.
“Oh of course. Have fun. Tell your father I love his pies!”
“You dumb cow, the bakery’s name is Senarys. She’s Sentnaria!” Miss Escha says when we were at the door.
“What bakery? Who’s Sentnaria? Do I know you?” my homeroom teacher asks.
The last sound that I hear before the door is fully closed is the loud groans of the exasperated Miss Escha.
I guess Ai-Chan won't finish this one either.
Oh! Apparently Ai-chan never posted the next chapter. Haha, sorry about that.
Please write more